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Hi All, Why am I not finding any trilobites (or even any identifiable trilobite partials)? I know the obvious two answers would be that I am either overlooking them or I am hunting in an area that they will not be located in. I am hunting outside of Willow Springs, Missouri, USA in what I believe to be Ordovician Period rock. I am finding all sorts of crinoid, brachiopod, gastropod, bryozoa, rugose, favistella fossils and more. I have even found a large stromatolite reef but I cannot find a trilobite fossil. I would think with the diversity of the fossils that I am finding, trilobite fossils (pieces, partials or whole) would show up at least once. The trilobite is THE bucket list fossil for me and if I need to change my method of searching or my area of searching I want to do that. Virtually all of the fossils that I am finding are "field walking" finds. I either find them in seasonal creek beds, areas of erosion or areas where dirt and rock have been removed or disturbed, if that makes any difference. Thanks for your time and any advice that you can give me.

Fossils on Wheels received another generous donation to our education programs this week. TFF member @Herb sent us a box of super cool invertebrates. He sent us a diversity of fossils from the Southern US that cover a wide range of eras. These fossils will be given to students in fossil starter kits and used in hands-on activities. Herb's donation is also awesome because this pushes me to learning a lot more about invertebrate fossils. One of the best parts of teaching kids about natural history through fossil exploration is that I get to learn a lot. Good teachers learn and challenge themselves so they can challenge their students. I do not have a lot of knowledge about these types of animals but I am so excited to start learning. Among the fossils we received were- Mississippian Corals and Brachiopods from Kentucky, Crinoid stems and Silurian sponges from Tennessee, Cretaceous Gastropods from Texas, and Eocene Bivalves from Alabama. Thank you Herb for a generous donation that will get put to good use

I hope this does not open a can of worms? But I think an open discussion regarding legal vs. illegal collecting practices is worth the time. I have observed, via a number of threads in posts, some collectors DO NOT appear respectful of current collecting rules and regulations (i.e. collecting vertebrate fossils on public land or unauthorized collecting on private land). I can already guess, many members are going to ask for specific examples. I really don't want to point fingers. I'm sure, members who have participated in this forum for a long time, recognize this is a on-going issue. People who post may NOT overtly say they are collecting illegally, but the content within the post depicts a picture of illegal collecting (i.e. found whale bones in a drainage ditch with map coordinates that indicate it is a public road easement). I think what typically gets lost in discussion like this are 2 main points: (1) illegal collecting fuels the drive to change BLM collecting rules and regs (which we have seen), and (2) illegal collecting can "cheat" the legitimate scientific community from extracting valuable data (i.e. geologic in-situ information, micro fossils, specific coordinates, etc.). I recently had a in-depth discussion with the head of a paleontology department who said, "most of the surface material (fossils) are of little interest to the museum (unless rare)" as the "scientific data" has been lost. I know what most of us are thinking, which is then why not let us collect surface vertebrate material that is exposed or removed from it's matrix? Well there are some legitimate reason why the current laws are restrictive: (1) some collectors have NO formal training and don't know how to properly identify, classify fossils (don't know the difference between a femur or tibia) (2) some collectors have NO training on how to property excavate fossils (pot hole diggers). I think, in fairness to the online community, it would be beneficial to discuss the "challenges" to legal collecting and the importance of "legitimate" "legal" collecting to protect future collecting opportunities. I personally, would like to see more posted comments instructing members to abide by current laws when it appears members "may be" violating them.

Crassostrea Gigantissima Sp. Shells from Tirtiary deposits of East Coast India